Ost und West
by Lecklund
Summary: [GermanyXReaderXOC] A terrifying wake-up call, East Germany abruptly lashes out against its neighbour, West Germany. Their ideals are much different, but which side will you take in this war? Will you side with the West along with the stern blonde you meet? Or will you side with East, alongside a man that's an almost complete opposite of him?


_"Links, zwo, drei, vier! Links zwo drei vier! Links-"_

The recognizable 'click' of marching boots echoed between the abandoned rubble of what was left of Berlin. The revolutionists [or as the Westerners preferred to accuse them of being, socialists] from the East had conquered most of the well-known metropolis, and were now ensuring their stay would be more prominent by constantly patrolling the streets in search of any surviving Westerners that refused to sacrifice their Conservative views for their own lives. To put it simply, Berlin was now reduced to a living hell-hole. Western Germany was, originally, more fearful of the ever-bold Soviets that were merely a country's width away from East Germany on the map, but they had neglected to place enough attention upon the threat closest to home.

Or, in this case, the threat within its own borders.

You were a foreigner, unfortunately caught in the midst of what seemed to be much more than a puny civil war. Even more unfortunate, you just happened to be in West Germany at the time, right around the time the public broadcast went on air and showed the horrifying sight of the newly re-built Berlin Wall. That should've been a sign that absolute hell was about to unfold. Yet, you decided to stay, confident like many others that this was merely a boast, which wasn't going to lead up to anything serious.

The media couldn't have been any more wrong, for you now sat huddled in the basement of an older German apartment, not hit as badly as the others, it seemed. There were a few others who had followed you in, a German family of three along with a stray German male that looked no older than 18, and what you assumed to be one of the two groups' pet Rottweiler. It seemed just as scared as you all were, lying on the ground with its ears down and whining quietly while it leaned on the young man, which made you wonder if it was his own animal. Though it seemed like a stupid thought after the fact, at the time you honestly felt like the worst part about this whole ordeal was the fact that you couldn't speak a word of German. You had come to Germany to travel with your friend who actually had a job in Berlin… back before it was half-destroyed. You don't know what happened to her, but all you could assume was the worst. Perhaps it was some form of shell-shock, but all you could think of was the negatives of everything, not just this situation here and now.

The German man slowly reached a hand over and placed it on your shoulder reassuringly, earning a glance from yourself as you snapped out of your negative trance. He tried his best to smile reassuringly, and muttered out something in German, "machen Sie keine Sorgen. Wir schaffen es."

You frowned, knowing he was trying to cheer you up but you simply couldn't grasp a word he said. You shook your head softly and let out a hollow laugh, "I can't understand you, you know…"

He returned the frown, and retracted his hand almost awkwardly. His face sullen, he proceeded to look down at the Rottweiler and stroke its head, as if he took back his assuring gesture and was giving it to the canine by his feet. It whined again, but its ears perked up slightly and its eyes looked slightly less sad than they had merely a moment ago. The man still had his frown upon his face, but looked up at you after a moment and questioned slowly, "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" After receiving another odd look from you, he tried once more, "Sie sprechen Englisch, ja?"

Now you could understand part of the question, recognizing the sounds of both 'Ja' and the oddly similar sound of 'English'. Piecing it together, you stuttered out awkwardly, "I.. Y-yeah. I speak English."

Seeming satisfied with the answer, he made his own attempt to reply despite his heavy accent, "F-forgive me. Mein Englisch is not very gut." He looked down at the dog once more before replying with a hollow tone to his voice, obviously struggling, "We will be… will be..."

You couldn't help but awkwardly smile in his direction at his fractured English as he attempted to make small talk with you. You only wished you could make it easier for him to understand you, considering his knowledge of English seemed extremely limited. The man in the opposite corner with his wife and daughter [or so you assumed] cleared his throat and spoke directly towards you, "He's trying to tell you that we'll be fine."

You looked over at his with a somewhat surprised look upon your face. His English was much more fluent than the younger man's, and his accent wasn't nearly as heavy. You blinked, "You speak English, sir?"

"Yes, I do." He paused a moment in thought before continuing, "I work as a translator for the government of Western Germany, so I have frequent business with foreigners, including Anglophones. Apologies that I didn't speak up sooner. Could've made the atmosphere less… awkward."

You nodded in understanding, and you suddenly changed the topic, "Do you have any idea how all… _this_ happened?"

He furrowed his brow, "Ja, there's been a few ideas floating around. From what I translated back at the offices, I learned more about the growing stress in the ties between East and West Deutschland, that's Germany to you, and I've also overheard the rumours of a sort of 'uprising' that people feared would happen. Some didn't believe them, but obviously that was the truth."

Nodding off while staring at nothing in particular, you looked over at the younger German while continuing the conversation with the other male, "An uprising? Why? What was going on between the two sides?"

"Well," He parted his lips to speak, but closed them again for a moment. Putting a hand to his chin, he continued on, "From what I heard, the Eastern Germans were beginning to re-adopt the ways of the past, when the Soviets ruled that land and had the support of German communist leaders. The Westerners however, stuck to their democratic ways… I suppose you could say the 'rivalry' between both sides had come back from quite a long while back."

You frowned. Communism wasn't a popular method with any country nowadays. "What possible benefit do they see in that? I was never into World History back home…"

"Well, the Easterners that supported communism believed that it made everyone an equal, since there's no rich or poor since everyone makes the same wages. Westerners thought this was an outrageous ideology, since East Germany had few freedoms after the Wall was built." He looked at the floor for a moment before frowning, "I wonder what they plan on doing to what's left of the Wall?"

"The Wall, sir?"

He brought his green-eyed gaze over to you, "The old Berlin Wall. Surely you've at least heard of it."

"That I have."

"It divided West and East when a similar conflict happened many years back, like I already mentioned before." He brushed a hand behind his head, "I think it's safe to say that the future isn't looking too bright."

The other German man from before turned towards the man and spat at him bitterly, "So sollten Sie nicht reden, _Herr_ Hüber."

He merely shook his head at the man and returned to you, "Torsten doesn't appreciate my negativity upon the situation, it seems. The way that dog of his is reacting however… I beg to differ." He sighed and leaned his head upon the back wall, "Either way, we're going to be in here for quite some time, unless we can get out of here without getting caught."

You raised a brow, "Who's looking for us?"

"The Easterners, of course. You and Torsten have a chance, though. You're a foreigner and he's an Easterner. My family and I are from West Berlin, where we are now. To put it quite simply, the Easterners are willing to exterminate any Westerners who will not submit and be forced over into their ruling ways." He shook his head slowly, "But that's all I know, and most of that is just assumptions and guesses. I don't have the answers to everything."

You only nodded in reply as you turned your gaze down to the ground while contemplating everything you were just told. It all seemed so complicated, having all this revealed to you in one sitting. It also didn't help the fact that you weren't just lacking in the German language department… but you hadn't exactly paid attention in any of those old History classes back in school, of which you now regretted.

The only thing you truly knew for certain was the fact that you have just found yourself in the middle of a real shit storm in a foreign country. How… charming.

* * *

_**A/N: **__HOO BOY.  
Not too sure on this one, but I'll post it anyway.  
Plus, I'm not sure if that title is either any good, or even translated properly.  
/sodisappointedinself/  
I highly doubt it'll be a permanent title. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.  
Oh, and yes. I let an English swear slip out. But hey. It's a legitimate way to describe the situation, right? *nervous laugh*_

And no, this isn't a 2p!Germany fic. I just liked the picture and thought it fit the kind of dark, aggressive theme I planned on this having

* * *

**TRANSLATIONS [in order of appearance]:**

**_machen Sie keine Sorgen. Wir schaffen es._** - Don't worry. We'll be fine.

**Sprechen Sie Deutsch?** - Do you speak German?

**Sie sprechen Englisch, ja?** - You speak English, yes?  
_I think I fixed it, but I can't be certain. Correct me if I'm wrong._

**_So sollten Sie nicht reden, _****Herr****_ Hüber._** - There's no need for that kind of talk,

* * *

Yes, this is very long [around 1500 words] and is NOT entirely historical. I merely took what background knowledge I had and... kind of did what I did for IToD by making it an AU.  
And I always claim to be a strictly canon material kind of person...

The OC part the title suggests will come into play quite a bit later, but not with the OC mentioned in this part~  
He'll become more important later on though, ohonhonhon~  
But it's not a legitimate Hetalia OC. You'll see what I mean later on [or I'll be stupid and let it slip early... damn spoilers]


End file.
